Talls Needed

[DOG GOD]

I wont start an argument here about polak type players or whatever coz most posters would already know my thoughts on him and his type of player, but surely from las nights game its so bleeping obvious what we need to move fwd.

Lynch, hunter and Hansen killed us last night.

10 goals between lynch and hunter told the story. Only one of ou talls kicked a goal (and that was a free kick).

We will NOT be a top 4 side until we get some quality tall timber fwd AND back.

It was a joke watching poor morris on lynch last nite. And Dale was trying his guts out.

 

[Embers]

You need a true FB badly. IMO Harris is more of a CHB then a FB. If I was your lot id go after Mal Michael

 

[X_box_X]

I agree with Embers. We need a true FB who will do the job for us, week in and week out. I wouldn't even call Harris a CHB. He would make a great HBF type player. I cannot see us winning a flag with Harris at FB.

I don't think our forward stocks are that badly required. If Darcy can play out of the square for the next two seasons, Johnson can continue trying hit guts out and kicking goals, Murphy to come back and present himself well, and Grant to kick 26 goals plus in his final season, top four is definitely on the cards.

Our priority should be to get a quality FB - and Polak isn't a FB, either. There are so many trade possibilities we could do with Brisbane. The question is, would Michael and Bradshaw want to play with Akermanis?

 

[Embers]

I agree with Embers. We need a true FB who will do the job for us, week in and week out. I wouldn't even call Harris a CHB. He would make a great HBF type player. I cannot see us winning a flag with Harris at FB.

I don't think our forward stocks are that badly required. If Darcy can play out of the square for the next two seasons, Johnson can continue trying hit guts out and kicking goals, Murphy to come back and present himself well, and Grant to kick 26 goals plus in his final season, top four is definitely on the cards.

Our priority should be to get a quality FB - and Polak isn't a FB, either. There are so many trade possibilities we could do with Brisbane. The question is, would Michael and Bradshaw want to play with Akermanis?

If Joel Bowden can be AA CHB then so could Harris

 

[X_box_X]

Explain to me why Riewoldt was an All-Australian FP. And explain to me the logic of having James McDonald, Ryan O'Keefe and Craig Bolton in the All-Australian side instead of the likes of Daniel Kerr, Cameron Bruce and Paul Chapman?

 

[realisticview]

Its amazing how when we dont have control of the ball, our backline looks dificient. Think about last week when we were able to control Rocca, Tarrant and Rusling. Simple reason why our back half looked ordinary last night was because the ball was down there 3/4 of the night.

 

[Mofra]

Harris needs to develop a selfish streak. He plays his best when he is worried about stopping his man alone, not "zoning off" to become the third man up at a contest because every other defender is a victim if a size mismatch.

A genuine CHB provides a huge level of protection for a FB. If Wight has a big pre-season or we trade for someone to play CHB, Harris will be better able to contain the best opposition forward; Hargrave & Morris could then play on someone their own size, and we could release a Griffen or McMahon into the midfield.

 

[Pembleton]

Hunter isn't "tall timber" at all. Hansen does nothing that he couldn't do if he was much shorter. But its good to see the great height myth continues.

We definately need a deep forward aerial presence though, and i am confident we'll be a lot better in that area come next season.

 

[woofers]

you all have said that Harris was the best F.B. going around not so long ago.Now you are saying we won't win a flag with Harris at F.B. Jesus people lets face it he hasn't had much help down there has he.Do you ever stop to think,how he must be feeling the pressure of taking on the big F.F. week in week out how bloody hard would that be with no one to back him up.Harris is the type of bloke that would try his hardest to have to prove himself every game and pressure like that for 22 games takes its toll.THINK ABOUT HOW THE PLAYERS FEEL FOR A CHANGE PEOPLE.

 

[Holfdog]

Totally agree mate
I think it's time to put Williams in there and let him learnf rom grant down there for one year at least. It is now or never for Tommy W hes been injured for 2 straight years and if it happens again im sorry but he has to go no good having big injured big men

 

[Top Dog]

I don't know how much to read into what Rocket says publicly but I read an interesting article on the dogs website where he states that we need more runners, rather than talls.

Interesting.

http://westernbulldogs.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=298315

 

[bullish23]

Totally agree mate
I think it's time to put Williams in there and let him learnf rom grant down there for one year at least. It is now or never for Tommy W hes been injured for 2 straight years and if it happens again im sorry but he has to go no good having big injured big men

Don't be so impatient. He has another 2 years on the list at least. Hopefully he can play some really good games at werribee at CHB next year. Maybe even snag a few games for the dogs towards the end of the year. Then consolidate on this in 2008.

 

[theGav56]

An article in the Age suggest that Rocket has enquired about Polak, but has been told he is not up for trade.

 

[D Mitchell]

Odd game. The conditions had more to do with the result than is given credit for. The strengths of the game plan all year have been run and bounce, pressure tackling, adventure and multiple entries into the forward 50. None of them were present on Saturday. Hunter and Hansen aren't world beaters, they both had good nights aided by good delivery going one way and poor the other. A lot of teams have a Lynch and we've beaten them. Next year we'll have Murphy, Darcy and Hanh back which will release Grant and a bigger Wight to play as second and third talls in defence. Polak isn't going to turn the club into a top 4 proposition, bigger bodied players who exert pressure and impose themselves on the opposition and better second efforts from Cooney, Griffen, Power, Eagleton, Ray etc a la Judd will.

 

[Dog Town]

I don't know how much to read into what Rocket says publicly but I read an interesting article on the dogs website where he states that we need more runners, rather than talls.

Interesting.

http://westernbulldogs.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=298315

He is right to a certain extent IMO and our injuries coupled with the amount of developing talls that we have make it worse. We do need a tall or two added to the side whether it be with the young guys coming through or ready made talls from other clubs but we also need a bit more running depth. We dont have a heap of running players outside our side and ready to come in. We have Higgins , Faulkner , Birss , Addison and McCormack basically. For a running side we have been out run a few times this year. Not sure whether we need to get them from outside the club or just push up what we have but we definetly need better seasons from some of that back up group. I have alot of time for Birss and Faulkner but they have spent half of the last two years injured or on the come back trail.

 

[FrediKanoute]

What we need is more depth in out rookies. We need to have on the rookie list developed talls (like Davidson but with better attititude). Guys who don't need another 2 or 3 years in the system, but are capable of playing almost straight away. We all know talls bloom later than midfielders, so guys like Hunter, the guy from Adelaide etc are the players we should target so that if our from line talls go down or fail to develop we have back up.

 

[Gooka]

What we need is more depth in out rookies. We need to have on the rookie list developed talls (like Davidson but with better attititude). Guys who don't need another 2 or 3 years in the system, but are capable of playing almost straight away. We all know talls bloom later than midfielders, so guys like Hunter, the guy from Adelaide etc are the players we should target so that if our from line talls go down or fail to develop we have back up.

Well, I think we've come out and said we'll go for a few more rookies this year.

We don't want to start jumping at shadows though. We do have a fair few talls on our list.

 

[stefoid]

I don't know how much to read into what Rocket says publicly but I read an interesting article on the dogs website where he states that we need more runners, rather than talls.

Interesting.

http://westernbulldogs.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=298315

heh heh, you expect him to say " yeah, actually coming into this trade week we are dead set gagging for a tall, totally desperate in fact"

harris is a decent fullback. our midfield was totally owned and let their opponents inject the ball into the F50 with surgical precision. give harris half a chance and he will compete with the best of them, as well as all the 1%ers and so on.

 

[lachy]

A kpp would have made no difference whatsoever on Saturday night.

When you only have 30 entries into your forward 50 you will not beat any team. They killed us around the ground and we killed ourselves with deplorable disposal. It was not height that killed is it was bigger more mature bodies.

Realistically it gave the guys and idea of how physically and mentally strong you need to be to win finals. I think they will learn from the experience.

As for being a top 4 team, not this year as we were not physically or mentally strong enogh, particularly with our outs, but we are not that far away.

 

[Sedat!]

Hunter isn't "tall timber" at all. Hansen does nothing that he couldn't do if he was much shorter. But its good to see the great height myth continues.

We definately need a deep forward aerial presence though, and i am confident we'll be a lot better in that area come next season.

Spot on. Hansen is just a taller Rob Murphy. Hunter is a shorter and younger version of Chris Grant. Murphy, Hahn and Darcy all possess marking ability and a strong presence, something we lacked for most of the 2nd half of the year. Get them back into the mix and we will improve in this area.

Things are a little shadier defensively. Harris, Morris and Hargrave do need some support down back. Wight is improving but needs to bulk up and Granty will offer some support short term. Williams is a pipe dream at this stage. We need another big body to take the pressure off. They don't grow on trees, so I'd like to hear some names of players we should target. Not against a stop-gap option like Michael being considered at the right price.

I also still think we are a ball winning hard body short in the midfield. My hopes that Faulkner will fill this breach remain a hope at best. Any other players out there that we should look at in this area?

 

[Gilbo_Fan]

Don't be so impatient. He has another 2 years on the list at least. Hopefully he can play some really good games at werribee at CHB next year. Maybe even snag a few games for the dogs towards the end of the year. Then consolidate on this in 2008.

Agreed Bullish,

I dont understand how the time is now for Tom Williams after having broken feet for two years. Yes its time to get him Fit and Strong but this isn't going to happen overnight. Big Guys who have foot injuries take time and its really a question of whether they think he is worth persisting with.

Once they get him fit I dont think anybody doubts he will be able to play at the level, so its just a question of getting him fixed. Essendon waited on Hird and showed is was worth the wait. Players like Luke McPharlin (who I think he is like) take time to develop.

 

[Metal]

I think Griffen is the man for the mid hard nut spot, eventually. He has the size and skill....a bit like Voss. But he looked stage struck on Saturday and I don't know if he has the mongrel in him. But he is only young and will take some time to learn about that position and maybe get his endurance up. That is what Rocket will work on over the summer, I guess.

 

[Go_Dogs]

I also still think we are a ball winning hard body short in the midfield. My hopes that Faulkner will fill this breach remain a hope at best. Any other players out there that we should look at in this area?

Spot on. I was kind of hoping we would have chased Pickett last year. I think Griffen will be able to offer a bit of this when he moves into a more consistent midfield spot next year. Boyd has also proven that he is capable of doing it, as well as Cross. Cooney is also ok, but probably does need to add another element of hardness to his game.

Ray, McMahon, Giansiracusa Eagleton, Power, and these types of players aren't really hard bodied midfielders in the sense of a Kirk or a Brock Mclean (who I think has been outstanding this year, and has probably just about edged ahead of Cooney in terms of players from that draft). All do some impressive things at times, mainly Gia and Power as far as the hard bodied stuff, but they are not really in the same body-size and thus league of some of the others. By the looks of Addison so far he could maybe add some of that, Higgins probably won't...

We really missed Hahn crashing packs as well, that is not to be underestimated. It is doubtful that he will be back doing that next year on the come-back from a knee injury, so it is probably ignorant to assume he will fix the problem.

I'm hopeful another good pre-season on the weights will start to show some big gains next year, and topping the list off with a nice young player who is a hard, hard nut would be a great choice. As far as trading for one, I'm not too sure who is available.

 

[Benny_]

I reckon you guys should have a real crack at Jamie Graham from the Eagles really good player who might be interested in getting traded. Would have to give them something quite good i would imagine maybe your 2nd or 3rd round draft pick.
Thoughts?

 

[Wind Sock]

I think there might be a much better chance of picking up a tall this year than we have tended to think. People have concentrated on obvious cases like Polak and Brown but the trading period often sees coaches reevaluating their list and reaching some surprsising conclusions.

Take St.Kilda for example. An incoming coach is going to look at that list and see a number of things. They have close to the best batch of talls in the AFL but they have a rapidly aging midfield with very little quality amongst the younger players. They might well have to offload a tall to get a decent midfielder. Their window of opportunity with this playing group can't be open for much longer unless they trade creatively.

Of course, who would we be prepared to give up for that extra tall? Unless we are prepared to give up proven quality, we won't get better than a fringe player.